Musical top



Sept. 13,1966 R. SEFCIK 3,

MUSICAL TOP Filed March 6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VE N'TOR. 05516) .ffFC/K Arron/5K9 R. SEFCIK MUS I CAL TOP Sept. 33, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6, 1964 INVENTOR.

flrramim United States Patent 3,272,054 MUSICAL TOP Robert Sefcik, Cherry Hill, N.J., assignor to J. Chein & Company, Burlington, N.J., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 349,857 8 Claims. (Cl. 84-83) The present invention relates to a musical or soundproducing top in which the sound produced changes as the top spins.

Tops have been known which are adapted to give off a changing tone or groups of tones as the top spins. One principle on which a number of such tops operates is the sequential bringing of a selected one or plurality of tuned reeds into registration with appropriately positioned apertures through which a flow of air is caused to pass, the particular reed or reeds in registration with said apertures being caused to vibrate by the flow of air, thereby giving off a characteristic musical sound. The top must spin quite rapidly, both for purposes of appearance and stability and in order to produce an adequate flow of air past the reeds, but it is usually desired that the sound change at a considerable slower rate, suggesting the sound of a stately organ composition. This requires that the reeds be moved past the openings with which they are to register at a speed very considerably slower than the speed of rotation of the top. For example, when the top is rotated at approximately 2000 rpm, the member carrying the reeds might rotate relative to the member carrying the reed-registering apertures at a speed on the order of only 4 rpm.

This speed reduction is usually accomplished by means of gearing. To make a gear train capable of accomplishsuch a marked degree of gear reduction has involved the use of a large number of gears, and usually pairs of meshing gears of widely disparate sizes, one of which is quite large. This has involved expense both with re gard to cost of components and cost of assembly. Moreover, the arrangement and location of the gears within the top structure has been such as to interfere with optimum functioning of the top from the points of view of rotation and sound-production.

It is the prime object of the present invention to devise a musical top of the type in which the tone changes slowly as the top spins which avoids the above described disadvantages and which, in particular, is characterized by extreme simplicity and reliability of motion transmission, efficient sound production, ease of manufacture and assembly, and low fabrication costs.

-To these ends the top is constructed in two sections, a conventional relatively large top body section and, below that body, a smaller casing section within which the sound producing mechanism, including reduction gearing of novel design, is received. The top is supported on and rotatable relative to a shaft extending from the outside of the top into the lower casing; An arm is fixed to the shaft and carries a pair of rotationally connected gears. A gear fixed to the casing is meshingly connected to one of the arm-carried gears, the other of the armcarried gears being meshingly connected to a fourth gear which rotates the member carrying the reeds. The top wall of the casing is provided with the apertures into registration with which the reeds are adapted to be sequentially brought, and the reed-carrying member is spring-urged thereagainst. The numbers of teeth in each of the gears diifer from one another by only a small number, preferably a single integer such as one. In this way a very substantial degree of speed reduction is achieved through the use of a minimum number of gears all of which are quite small in size. All of the sound producing mechanism is located in the casing at the lower portion of the top assembly, thereby adding to stability,

3,272,054 Patented Sept. 13, 1966 minimizing the possibility of damage, and making for optimum production of air flow through the top in order to produce the desired sounds.

To the accomplishment of the above, and to such other objects as may hereinafter appear, the present invention relates to the construction of a musical top as defined in the appended claims and as described in this specification, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a top made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an axial fragmentary cross sectional view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 2.

As may best be seen from FIG. 1, the top assembly comprises a body section 2 having a much smaller casing section 4 at the lower portion thereof, the top assembly being mounted for rotation on a shaft 6, usually stationary and non-rotating, which is supported by a stand 8 and which projects up into the casing 4. A handle 10 may be provided at the upper end of the top assembly which is adapted to be reciprocated up and down in order to drive the top in rotation, as is conventional.

The body section 2 is formed by upper and lower shells 12 and 14 connected to one another along rim 16. The casing 4 is cup-shaped, having a bottom wall 16 and a side wall 18, the latter having tabs 20 adapted to extend up through appropriate openings in the bottom wall 22 of the lower shell 14 and to "be bent, as shown in FIG. 2, so as to secure the casing 4 in place. That portion of the bottom wall 22 of the casing 14 received radially inside the side wall 18 of the casing 4 separates the interior of the casing 4 with the interior of the body 2, defines a top wall for the casing 4, and is provided with a series of circumferentially spaced elongated apertures '24, here shown as four in number. The bottom wall 1-2 of the casing 4 is provided with a series of apertures 2 The central portion of the bottom casing wall 16 is apertured, at 2'8, and a gear 30 is fixedly secured to that aperture, the gear having a central passage 32 through which the shaft 6 extends. The portion of the shaft 6 immediately above the gear 30 has an arm 34 rigidly fixed thereto, that arm having a vertical passage 36 adjacent its free end within which a shaft '38 is rotationally received. A second gear 40 is fixed to the shaft 38 and is in mesh with the gear 30. A third gear 42 is fixed to the upper end of the shaft 38.

A reed-carrying member generally designated 44 is located within the casing 4. It comprises a disk 46 which may be formed of plastic or the like and which is provided with a central aperture 48 within which metallic bushing 50 is fixedly received, that bushing having a depending portion 52 defining a fourth gear in mesh with the gear 42 and having a central upwardly extending recess 54 within which compression spring 56 is received, the lower end of the spring 56 engaging against the arm 34. The disk 46 is provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced narrow elongated openings 58-, here shown as twelve in number, within which vibratile reeds 60 are received, the reeds 60 preferably being formed integrally with the disk 46 and comprising fingers cantilever mounted at their radially outer ends. The physical dimensions and/or weighting of the reeds 60, and the resilient material of which they are formed, will impart to each a characteristic resonant frequency of vibration, the individual reeds 60 being differently designed so as to resonate at different frequencies preferably corresponding to selected 3 musical tones. The circumferential spacing of the reeds 60 will differ from the circumferential spacing of the apertures 24 in the wall 22, so that different reeds or sets of reeds are brought into registration with the wall apertures 24 as the disk 46 rotates relative to the wall'22.

The upper end of the shaft 6 extends through the spring 56, central opening 62 in the bushing 50, and central opening 64 in the wall 22, and projects into the body 2.

A tube 66 extends down from the upper wall 68 of the shell 12 and carries at its lower end an insert 70 having anaxial opening 72 into which the upper tip of the shaft 6 is received. An upper casing 74 is secured to the Wall 68, and within that casing a ratchet member 76 is received. A helically twisted driving shaft 78 issecured to the handle and passes down through the ratchet 76 and the tube 66, the ratchet 76 being engaged with the shaft 78 so as to slip thereover as the shaft is pulled upwardly and so as to be rotated thereby as the shaft is pushed downwardly. The ratchet 76 engages with the wall 68, as at the raised portion 78 thereof, so as to transmit its rotation to the shell 12 and the remainder of the top body 2. A spacer'tube 80 may be provided atop the ratchet 76 to prevent excessive lifting of the ratchet 76 when the handle 10 is lifted, as is conventional.

The shell 14 is provided, adjacent the rim 16, with a plurality of openings 82, One or more inclined vanes 84 may be secured in any appropriate manner to the tube 66 so as to rotate therewith and with the shells 12 and 14.

As the top assembly is caused to rotate relative to the shaft 6, being impelled in that rotation by vertical reciprocation of the handle 10 and shaft 78 acting through the ratchet 76 and the shell wall 68, the gear 30 rotates relative to the shaft 6 and its rotation is imparted to the gear 40, the arm 34 remaining stationary. The two gears 30 and 40 are of approximately the same size and have closely the same numbers of teeth, the number of teeth in the gear 30 differing from the number of teeth in the gear 40 by some single integer, such as one. Rotation of the gear 40 is imparted to gear 42, which is in mesh with gear 52. The gears 42 and 52 are both of approximately the same size as gears 30 and 40. The numbers of teeth in the gears 40 and 42 differ from one another by a single integer, such as one, and the numbers of teeth in the gears 42 and 52 are similarly related. By way of specific example, gear 30 may have twenty-one teeth, gear 40 may have twenty-two teeth, gear 42 may have twenty-three teeth and gear 52 may have twenty-two teeth. With this arrangement, when the top rotates at 2000 r.p.m., the reed-carrying disk 46 will rotate at 1996 r.p.m. Since the apertured wall 22 rotates with the casing 4 and shell 14, the disk 46 will thus rotate relative to the wall 22 at the rate of 4 r.p.m. A similar differential speed of rotation, but in the opposite sense, can be achieved if gear 30 has twenty-two teeth, gear 40 has twenty-three teeth, gear 40 has twenty-two teeth and gear 52 has twenty-one teeth.

As the top rotates air is drawn in through the apertures 26, passes around those reeds 60 which are in registration with the apertures 24, flows through the apertures 24 into the inside of the casings 12 and 14, and flows out through the apertures 82, this flow being assisted and impelled by rotation of the vanes 84. This flow of air over the reeds 60 in registration with the apertures 24 causes those reeds to vibrate resonantly and emit their characteristic musical tone. As the disk 46 rotates slowly relative to the apertures 24, new reeds 60 are brought into registration therewith, thus giving rise to a change in the character of the tone produced. Because of the very small difference in rotational speed between the disk 46 and the apertures 24, this tone changes slowly despite the fact that the top assembly rotates rapidly.

Because the sound-producing mechanism and the gear reduction driving means therefor are all located in'the small casing 4 at the lowest portion of the top, the stability of the top during rotation is enhanced and the reliability of the sound producing mechanism is improved. The driving mechanism is simple and compact, requiring a minimal number of small sturdy partswhich are readily assembled in place. The location of the gear reduction unit is such that it does not to any appreciable degree interfere withair flow through the top nor with the production of sound by the reeds 60. The overall construction is thus simultaneously rendered inexpensive, sturdy, reliable and efficient.

While but a single embodiment of the present invention has been here specifically disclosed, it will be apparent that many variations may be made therein, all within the scope of the instant invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A sounding top comprising a support shaft, a casing rotatably mounted on said shaft, said shaft entering said casing, a top body larger than, mounted on and surmounting said casing for rotation therewith, a wall separating said casing from said body, said casing, said body, and said wall having openings formed therein to define a path for air flow serially through said casing, said wall and said body, a first gear fixed to and inside said casing and rotatable relative to said shaft, an arm in said casing fixed to said shaft, second and third rotationally connected gears carried by said arm, said second gear being meshingly operatively connected to said first gear, a reedcarrying member located in close juxtaposition to said wall and rotatable relative to said shaft and said wall so as to bring selected reeds into and out of registration with the opening in said wall, and a fourth gear in said casing, operatively connected to said member and meshingly operatively connected to said third gear, the relationship between the numbers of teeth in said gears being such as to cause said member to rotate relative to said shaft at a speed differing only slightly from the speed of rotation of said casing.

2. The sounding top of claim 1, in which the number of teeth in said first gear differs by a single integer from the number of teeth in said fourth gear, the number of teeth in said second gear differs by a single integer from the number of teeth insaid third gear, and the numbers of teeth in said first and fourth gears respectively differ by single integers from the numbers of teeth in said second and third gears respectively.

3. A sounding top comprising a support shaft, a casing rotatably mounted on said shaft, said shaft entering said casing, a top body larger than, mounted on and surmounting said casing for rotation therewith, a wall separating said casing from said body, said casing, said body and said wall having openings formed therein to define a path for air flow serially through said casing, said wall and said body, a first gear fixed to and inside said casing and rotatable relative to said shaft, an arm in said casing fixed to said shaft, second and third rotationally connected gears carried by said arm, said second gear being meshingly operatively connected to said first gear, a reed-carrying member located in close juxtaposition to said wall and rotatable relative to said shaft and said wall so as to.

4. The sounding top of claim 3, in which the number of teeth in said first gear differs by a single integer from the number of teeth in said fourth gear, the number of teeth in said second gear differs by a single integer from the number of teeth in said third gear, and the numbers of teeth in said first and fourth gears respectively differ by single integers from the numbers of teeth in said second and third gears respectively.

5. A sounding top comprising a support shaft, a casing rotatably mounted on said shaft, said shaft entering said casing, 21 top body larger than, mounted on and surmounting said casing for rotation therewith, a wall separating said casing from said body, said casing, said body and said wall having openings formed therein to define a path for air flow serially through said casing, said wall and said body, a first gear fixed to and inside said casing and rotatable relative to said shaft, an arm in said casing fixed to said shaft, second and third rotationally connected gears carried by said arm, said second gear being meshingly operatively connected to said first gear, a reed-carrying member spring-urged against said wall and rotatable relative to said shaft and said Wall so as to bring selected reeds into and out of registration with the opening in said wall, and a fourth gear in said casing, operatively connected to said member and meshingly operatively connected to said third gear, the relationship between the numbers of teeth in said gears being such as to cause said member to rotate relative to said shaft at a speed differing only slightly from the speed of rotation of said casing.

6. The sounding top of claim 5, in which the number of teeth in said first gear differs by a single integer from the number of teeth in said fourth gear, the number of teeth in said second gear differs by a single integer from the number of teeth in said third gear, and the numbers of teeth in said first and fourth gears respectively differ by single integers from the numbers of teeth in said second and third gears respectively.

7. A sounding top comprising a support shaft, a casing rotatably mounted on said shaft, said shaft entering said casing, a top body larger than, mounted on and surmounting said casing for rotation therewith, a wall separating said casing from said body, said casing, said body and said wall having openings formed therein to define a path for air flow serially through said casing, said wall and said body, a first gear fixed to and inside said casing and rotatable relative to said shaft, an arm in said casing fixed to said shaft, second and third rotationally connected gears carried by said arm, said second gear being meshingly operatively connected to said first gear, a reedcarrying member spring-urged against said wall and rotatable relative to said shaft and said wall so as to bring selected reeds into and out of registration with the opening in said wall, and a fourth gear in said casing, integral with said member and meshingly operatively connected to said third gear, the relationship between the numbers of teeth in said gears being such as to cause said member to rotate relative to said shaft at a speed differing only slightly from the speed of rotation of said casing.

8. The sounding top of claim 7, in which the number of teeth in said first gear differs by a single integer from the number of teeth in said fourth gear, the number of teeth in said second gear differs by a single integer from the number of teeth in said third gear, and the numbers of teeth in said first and fourth gears respectively differ by single integers from the numbers of teeth in said second and third gears respectively.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,809,548 10/1957 Bruetting 4666 X 2,841,920 7/1958 Balliers 84-83 X 2,950,641 8/1960 Bruetting 4666 X 3,153,968 10/1964 Ruchs 4666 X DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner. R. F. CUTTING, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SOUNDING TOP COMPRISING A SUPPORT SHAFT, A CASING ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT, SAID SHAFT ENTERING SAID CASING, A TOP BODY LARGER THAN, MOUNTED ON AND SURMOUNTING SAID CASING FOR ROTATION THEREWITH, A WALL SEPARATING SAID CASING FROM SAID BODY, SAID CASING, SAID BODY, AND SAID WALL HAVING OPENINGS FORMED THEREIN TO DEFINE A PATH FOR AIR FLOW SERIALLY THROUGH SAID CASING SAID WALL AND SAID BODY, A FIRST GEAR FIXED TO AND INSIDE SAID CASING AND ROTATABLE RELATIVE TO SAID SHAFT, AN ARM IN SAID CASING FIXED TO SAID SHAFT, SECOND AND THIRD ROTATIONALLY CONNECTED GEARS CARRIED BY SAID ARM, SAID SECOND GEAR BEING MESHINGLY OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST GEAR, A REEDCARRYING MEMBER LOCATED IN CLOSE JUXTAPOSITION TO SAID WALL AND ROTATABLE RELATIVE TO SAID SHAFT AND SAID WALL SO AS TO BRING SELECTED REEDS INTO AND OUT OF REGISTRATION WITH THE OPENING IN SAID WALL, AND A FOURTH GEAR IN SAID CASING, OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID MEMBER AND MESHINGLY OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID THIRD GEAR, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE NUMBERS OF TEETH IN SAID GEARS BEING SUCH AS TO CAUSE SAID MEMBER TO ROTATE RELATIVE TO SAID SHAFT AT A SPEED DIFFERING ONLY SLIGHTLY FROM THE SPEED OF ROTATION OF SAID CASING. 